2000s energy crisis

2000s oil crisis

Medium term crude oil prices Jan. 2003 – Nov. 2008, (not adjusted for inflation)
Date	2003 (2003)–2008 (2008)
Also known as	Third oil crisis

From the mid-1980s to September 2003, the inflation-adjusted price of a barrel of crude oil on NYMEX was generally under US$25/barrel in 2008 dollars. During 2003, the price rose above $30, reached $60 by 11 August 2005, and peaked at $147.30 in July 2008.^[1] Commentators attributed these price increases to many factors, including Middle East tension, soaring demand from China,^[2] the falling value of the U.S. dollar, reports showing a decline in petroleum reserves,^[3][4] worries over peak oil,^[5] and financial speculation.^[6]

For a time, geopolitical events and natural disasters had strong short-term effects on oil prices, such as North Korean missile tests,^[7] the 2006 conflict between Israel and Lebanon,^[8] worries over Iranian nuclear plans in 2006,^[9] Hurricane Katrina,^[10] and various other factors.^[11] By 2008, such pressures appeared to have an insignificant impact on oil prices given the onset of the global recession.^[12] The recession caused demand for energy to shrink in late 2008, with oil prices collapsing from the July 2008 high of $147 to a December 2008 low of $32.^[13] However, it has been disputed that the laws of supply and demand of oil could have been responsible for an almost 80% drop in the oil price within a six-month period.^[14] Oil prices stabilized by August 2009 and generally remained in a broad trading range between $70 and $120 through November 2014,^[15] before returning to 2003 pre-crisis levels by early 2016, as US production increased dramatically. The United States went on to become the largest oil producer by 2018.^[16]